Click Below

Support

Bespoke in the WSJ

Bespoke's work on international revenues was featured in the 12/26/08 Ahead of the Tape column by Scott Patterson in the Wall Street Journal. A subscription is required to view the entire article, but below is a brief excerpt:

One of the smartest plays for investors in the past few years was to invest in companies with lots of exposure to fast-growing overseas economies in Asia, the Middle East and elsewhere, while going light on those doing most of their business in slowpoke U.S.

That trend might start reversing soon. Indeed, it already has to a small extent, though for now it is more a matter of which group is performing less badly. Stocks of companies that book more than 50% of their revenue overseas are down 46% this year, compared with the decline of 38% in companies with no international revenue, according to Bespoke Investment Group.

"The theory was that these companies were benefiting from the globalization of trade," said Paul Hickey, co-founder of Bespoke. "That whole theory is going out the window now."

Sectors such as utilities, consumer discretionary and health care get less than 30% of revenue overseas. The technology sector is among the most exposed, with an average of 50% of company revenue coming from outside North America.

Many investors come to Bespoke when they're looking for the percentage of revenues that a company generates outside of the US. Our International Revenues Database contains this information for all companies in the Russell 1,000 and the S&P 500. To access the database, you have to be a yearly subscriber to Bespoke Premium. Click here to sign up today.